Methods for preparing ready-to-dispense beverages, like tea beverages, are known. For example, many food establishments have brewing systems that dispense tea-based beverages ready for consumption. Typically, such systems operate by mixing an instant tea or a brewed tea concentrate with hot water to produce a hot water composition that is combined with cold water to thereby produce a tea beverage that is ready to drink.
Unfortunately, however, when preparing beverages, like tea beverages, from a beverage precursor in the manner described above, the beverages often have, for example, flavor and aroma characteristics that do not meet desired consumer expectations, especially when the beverage precursor employed has aged. This is true because beverage enhancing components, like flavor- and aroma-generating compounds found in beverage precursors, typically degrade within the beverage precursor, a direct result of their unstable nature in the presence of conventional beverage precursor components.
In view of the above, ready-to-drink tea dispensing machines, for example, have been modified to post dose flavor and aroma compounds. Such tea dispensing machines are energy inefficient, difficult to refill and often noisy since they require a first pump to pump beverage precursor and a second pump to pump the flavor and aroma compounds.
It is of increasing interest to develop a beverage dispensing machine that comprises a delivery means for efficiently delivering a beverage enhancing component (not formulated within a beverage precursor) to a beverage precursor. This invention, therefore, is directed to a beverage dispensing machine comprising a delivery means suitable to deliver a beverage enhancing component to a beverage precursor, whereby the beverage enhancing component is drawn into the beverage precursor from negative pressure created by the beverage precursor pump of the beverage dispensing machine. Such an apparatus unexpectedly produces a beverage of superior flavor and aroma while at the same time being lighter, easier to refill, quieter and more energy efficient than conventional machines. The beverage dispensing machine of this invention pumps beverage precursor and beverage enhancing component with a single pump.